1997 Volkswagen Golf Owner Complaints

I WAS DRIVING AT NIGHT BRINGING A FRIEND HOME AND AS I WAS APPROACHING AN OFF RAMP, I FELT SOMETHING BURNING ON MY LEGS. I LOOKED DOWN TO TRY TO SEE WHAT IT WAS AND WHEN I LOOKED UP, MY WINDSHIELD WAS COMPLETELY COVERED IN FOG. THANKFULLY THERE WAS A SHOULDER ON THE EXIT, SO I PULLED OVER AND SHUT THE CAR OFF AND DID SOME INVESTIGATING. THERE WAS A SMALL STREAM OF COOLANT COMING DOWN FROM BEHIND MY DASH, AND ONTO THE FLOOR. IF THERE HAD BEEN TRAFFIC I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE BUT, I HAD TO CALL ANOTHER FRIEND AND COME GET US AT 12:30AM ON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY. I DID SOME INVESTIGATING ONLINE AND SEARCHED FOR RECALLS, AND I FOUND THAT THE MARK 2 JETTAS AND GOLFS HAD A HEATER CORE RECALL. I DID SOME FURTHER INVESTIGATING AND FOUND OUT THAT THE MARK 2 HEATERCORES AND THE MARK 3 HEATERCORES HAVE THE SAME PART NUMBER - SO WHY IS THERE NOT A RECALL FOR THE MARK 3'S? THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE ONLINE AND ON A FORUM CALLED VWVORTEX.COM WHERE THERE IS AT LEAST 40+ REPORTED ISSUES IN THAT SMALL COMMUNITY ALONE. (HTTP://FORUMS.VWVORTEX.COM/ZEROTHREAD?ID=1593587&PAGE=9). *TR

NHTSA ID

10279908

Incident

Aug 9, 2009

Mileage

208,800 mi

AIR CONDITIONING IS LEAKING CONDENSATION INTO THE CAR, FOGGING UP FRONT WINDOW AND COMPROMISING VISIBILITY. FLOORBOARD IS SOAKED WITH WATER, CLOUDING WINDOWS. *NM

NHTSA ID

10134702

Incident

Jul 1, 2005

Mileage

81,000 mi

TRANSMISSION WILL NOT SHIFT WHEN NEEDED INTO HIGHER GEARS, AND SOMETIMES FALLS OUT OF THE PROPER GEAR AND INTO A LOWER GEAR WHEN IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO, CAUSING ENGINE TO REV WAY TOO HIGH WHILE ON THE FREEWAY. CAR DOES NOT RUN PROPERLY AS A RESULT, AND I CAN'T REALLY DRIVE IT UNTIL IT'S FIXED. I TRIED TO HAVE VOLKSWAGON FIX THE KNOWN PROBLEM, BUT THEY REFUSED. *AK

NHTSA ID

10113868

Incident

Jan 25, 2004

Mileage

80,000 mi

TRANSMISSION FAILED WHILE SHIFTING. DRIVER PULLED OVER, AND NOTICED THAT TRANSMISSION LIGHT FLASHED ON AND OFF. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER, AND MECHANIC DETERMINED THAT TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED DUE TO THE HOUSING SHAFT. *AK

NHTSA ID

10113852

Incident

Mar 9, 2005

WHILE INSPECTING THE VEHICLE CONSUMER NOTICED FOUR DOORS' MOLDING SEPARATED FROM VEHICLE. CONSUMER GLUED MOLDING ON TWICE, BUT PROBLEM RECURRED. DEALERSHIP AND MANUFACTURER WERE CONTACTED.*AK

NHTSA ID

10079699

Incident

Jun 23, 2004

AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION, WHEN THE ENGINE IS "COLD" THE TRANSMISSION DOES NOT SHIFT IN TO GEAR PROPERLY. IT USUALLY GETS STUCK BETWEEN GEARS, IF YOU STEP ON THE GAS AT THE TIME BETWEEN GEARS THE CAR WILL BUCK VIOLENTLY AS IT SHIFTS. EVEN THOUGH IT HAS HAPPEND MANY TIMES I WILL LIST THE DATE IT HAPPENED LAST. *AK

NHTSA ID

10067685

Incident

Apr 22, 2004

AUTOMATIC DOOR LOCK INTERMITTENTLY MALFUNCTIONED IN COLD TEMPERATURES. DOOR KNOB POPPED UP, BUT THE DOOR FAILED TO OPEN AUTOMATICALLY OR MANUALLY. AS A RESULT, CONSUMER WAS TRAPPED IN OR LOCKED OUT OF THE VEHICLE. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURE HAD NOT BEEN DETERMINED. *AK

NHTSA ID

10053474

Mileage

30,000 mi

FRONT AIRBAGS DEPLOY WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING. DEALERSHIP IS AWARE OF PROBLEM.*AK

NHTSA ID

8003683

AIRBAGS IN THE CAR DEPLOYED CAUSING ME TO HIT A CURB MORE THAN ONCE DESSIMATING MY PASSENGER SIDE AND KNOCKING ME THROUGH A LOOP, MY INSURANCE COMPANY IS INVESTIGATING , BUT IM NOT SURE WHAT THE CAN FIND OUT ,I KNOW AUDI(PART OF VW) WAS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH AIRBAGS DEPLOYING BECAUSE OF STATIC CHARGE IN LOW HUMIDITY CONDITIONS ... THANK YOU . JASON A CULLIGAN. *AK

NHTSA ID

757246

Incident

Jan 17, 2002

NO SUMMARY LISTED FOR ABOVE VEHICLE. *AK

NHTSA ID

752896

Incident

Sep 29, 2001

THE GOODYEAR EAGLE GA TIRES (195/60R14) EXPERIENCED 2 FAILURES, THE RIGHT REAR SIDEWALL HAD A DEFECTIVE CRACK AND THE RIGHT REAR TIRE EXPERIENCED A BLOWOUT, THE CONSUMER IS REQUESTING AN ADJUSTMENT FROM ONE OF TIRES THAT WAS PAID FOR AT A PRO-RATED COST. *SLC

NHTSA ID

558316

THE IGNITION BROKE IN APRIL 2000 & WAS REPLACED BY DEALER. ON 9/1/2000, WHITE, ODORLESS SMOKE CAME FROM LEFT SIDE OF STEERING COLUMN. ON 9/18/2000, BROWN SMELLY SMOKE CAME FROM SAME AREA. CAR TOWED TO DEALER. DEALER KEPT FOR 3 DAYS, COULDN'T FIND PROBLEM, SAID CAR WAS SAFE. ON 9/24/2000, BROWN SMELLY SMOKE CAME FROM STEERING COLUMN ON 3 OCCASIONS. CAR TOWED TO DEALER. DEALER KEPT CAR FIVE DAYS, COULDN'T FIND PROBLEM. THE CAR IS NOW AT ANOTHER REPAIR PLACE. I AM TERRIFIED TO DRIVE THIS CAR. I THINK THE PROBLEM IS DIRECTLY CAUSED BY THE IGNITION REPLACEMENT. VERY UNHAPPY WITH DEALER AND VW USA.

NHTSA ID

733016

Incident

Apr 19, 2000

WHEN DRIVING AND ACCELERATING THERE IS A LOUD NOISE COMING FROM THE EXHAUST PIPE. DEALER SAYS PIPE NEEDS TO BE REWELDED OR REPLACED. *AK

NHTSA ID

865947

EXHAUST DOWN PIPE SHEID OUTSIDE LOOSE BOTTOM & TOP NEED TO BE "RECRIMED" (VW 7/24/00) VW DEALERSHIP TOLD ME IT'S A MANAFACTURERS DEFECT BUT MY WARRANTY IS VOID "2 YEARS 24,000 MILES" THE OXYGEN SENSOR/GASKETS/FLEX PIPE ARE ALL EFFECTED TO DO THIS PROBLEM LEADING TO MANIFOLD PROBLEMS ? THE AUTOMOBILE IS 3 YEARS OLD WITH ALL ORIGINAL PARTS. NEW CAR WITH EXHAUST PROBLEMS? THIS PART WAS OF POOR QUALITY ON THE MANAFACTURERS END I FEEL THIS IS A DEFECT THAT SHOULD BE LOOKED INTO BY VW. *AK

NHTSA ID

725972

Incident

Apr 18, 2000

DRIVERS SIDE DOOR LOCK BROKE. NLM

NHTSA ID

552715

I WAS TOLD BY VW THAT THE O2 SENSORS USE TO BE COVERED BY THE EMMISSIONS CONTROLS WARRANTY. I BELIEVE THESE PARTS WERE OF POOR QUALITY AND THAT VOLKSWAGEN SHOULD REIMBURSE ME. MY MECHANIC NOTED THAT O2 SENSOR FAILURE IS NOT UNCOMMON ON '97 & '98 GOLFS. IF SO, PLEASE CONSIDER INVESTIGATING FOR A RECALL. CONSUMERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY FOR A MANUFACTURER'S POOR QUALITY. *AK

NHTSA ID

723836

Incident

May 22, 2000

I WAS DRIVING MY CAR HOME IN THE RAIN AND APPARENTLY MY CAR'S ENGINE HYDROLOCKED BY SUCKING IN WATER THROUGH THE AIRBOX. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS WAS DUE TO OUTSIDE THE NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND THAT MY WARRANTY WOULD NOT COVER IT.

NHTSA ID

709507

Incident

Jul 29, 1999

NO SUMMARY

NHTSA ID

702199

Incident

Nov 23, 1998

DEALER COMPLICATED ISSUE. REPAIR TECHNICIAN STATED TO SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE THAT CLUTCH CABLE CAUSED PREMATURE CLUTCH FAILURE. THE MANUFACTURER SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL REPAIRS TO PARTS THAT FALL INTO THE FIELD OF NORMAL MAINTAINENCE. THE REPAIR COST SHOULD BE PRORATED TO THE EXPECTED LIFETIME OF THE PART. UNFORTUNATELY, THE DEALER CLAIMS THAT VOLKSWAGEN CLAIMS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY CLUTCH FAILURE.

NHTSA ID

702039

Incident

Jan 8, 1999

PASSENGER SIDE AIR BAG NO LONGER FUNCTIONAL. DASH WARNING LIGHT WENT ON 10/23/98. NO ACCIDENTS, POWER FAILURE, ETC. AIR BAG SYSTEM NO LONGER WORKING. $700 QUOTE FROM DEALER. NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY.

NHTSA ID

700211

Incident

Oct 23, 1998

WHEEL LUG:BOLTS THAT ARE CAUSING THE WHEEL TO SEPARATE FROM VEHICLE DUE TO IMPROPER LUG: NUTS THAT ARE ATTACHED TO WHEEL AND VEHICLE. *AK

NHTSA ID

820587

HORN CAN'T BE LOCATED WHEN THE WHEEL IS TURNED.

NHTSA ID

525395

DRIVER'S SEAT IS UNCOMFORTABLE, THIS CREATES A LOT OF FATIGUE, EVEN ON SHORT TRIPS. *AK

NHTSA ID

513364

Incident

Nov 17, 1996